13-year-old's gaming addiction costs his mother Rs 22 lakh in Amritsar

 PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 26

The online gaming addiction of 13-year-old boy costs his mother dear after online fraudsters siphoned off around Rs 22 lakh from her bank account.

The child used to play online gaming during online classes during Covid-19 pandemic when the schools were off. This came to light when his mother went to bank for upgrading the passbook. She was shell shocked to learn about the unknown withdrawal from her account which she did not make.

Amandeep Kaur immediately asked the bank authorities who advised her to lodge a complaint with the police in this regard. On the basis of the preliminary probe carried out by the cybercrime and forensic unit, the city police booked four West Bengal residents for extortion and fraud. The police said further investigations were under progress and efforts were on to nab the suspects.

The complainant stated to police that her husband, who was in the army, died in an accident. Following this, his insurance money and other benefits were transferred to her bank account in SBI branch in Chheharta.

She said on September 3, she went to the bank for upgrading her passbook when she found suspicious transactions on different dates. She said around Rs 22 lakhs were transferred from her account to different a bank account and digital payment wallets.

During preliminary probe, it was found that her elder son Navpreet Singh (13) used to attend online classes. He was in habit of playing online multiplayer games. He was very much aware of passwords and bank account details as he used to deposit his school’s fee online. Amandeep did not know how to make payments online.

Navpreet told her that for upgrading additional features, he searched on YouTube and came in contact with a gaming channel operator identified as Aditya who sought Rs 8,000 payment for generating gaming ID. Though he made the payment, Aditya did not generating gaming ID. When Navpreet demanding his money back, the accused started threatening to reveal all this to his parents. Frightened by the threats by the suspects, Navreet made payments on different dates and transferred Rs 22 lakhs to a private bank account and a digital wallet.

The police are investigating the mobiles from where he used to get calls and accounts where money was transferred.

The police booked four suspects identified as Santosh Kumar Singh, Putul Das, Tannu Kumari Shaw and Chandra Kala Singh, all residents of West Bangal. An FIR was registered against them under Sections 384, 420 and 120-B of the IPC.

Online game scam

• September 3, the woman went to the bank for upgrading her passbook when she found suspicious transactions on different dates.
• She said around Rs22 lakh were transferred from her account to different a bank accounts and digital payment wallets.
• The child used to indulge in online gaming while attending his classes during Covid-19 pandemic, when the schools were off. This came to light when his mother went to bank for upgrading the passbook.